LEIGH, John (c.1651-89), of Northcourt, Shorwell, I.O.W.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1660-1690, ed. B.D. Henning, 1983
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

Oct. 1679

Family and Education

b. c.1651, 2nd but o. surv. s. of Sir John Leigh. m. 7 Oct. 1669, Anne (d.1719), da. of John Every of Wootton Glanville, Dorset, and coh. to her bro. John Every, 3s. (1 d.v.p.) 8da. suc. fa c.1666.1

Offices Held

Commr. for assessment, Hants 1677-80.

Biography

Leigh probably belonged to the Green Ribbon Club like his brother-in-law. He replaced the courtier Sir Robert Holmes at Newport, five miles from Shorwell, in the second Exclusion Parliament, no doubt as a country Member, and also represented the borough at Oxford; but he made no speeches and was appointed to no committees. He gave way to Holmes in 1685. He drew up his will on 23 Jan. 1689 (and hence without a regnal year), and was buried at Shorwell shortly afterwards. Provision for his debts and his large family gave him much concern, and the will was left unproved during the lifetime of the principal executor, Sir Robert Henley. His widow then undertook the administration, and apparently cleared the Northcourt estate by selling off her own inheritance. His son was returned for Newtown in 1702.2

Ref Volumes: 1660-1690

Author: Paula Watson

Notes

  • 1. Berry, Hants Genealogies, 122-3; Misc. Gen. et Her. (ser. 5), viii, 215.
  • 2. PCC 10 Coker; VCH Hants, v. 283; Hutchins, Dorset, iii. 743.